Landscape and the natural world

Landscape is arguably the single most important theme to have been addressed by Irish painters in terms of quantity and range. Always popular, particularly in the wake of Edmund Burke’s aesthetic treatise on the beautiful and sublime in nature, in the early twentieth century its significance gained momentum as it was used to convey a sense of Irish identity. Its importance continues in the light of contemporary concerns regarding such issues as ecology, migration, and to factors related to globalisation.

 

Book of Kells fol. 29r

Book of Kells detail of fol 29r showing interlaced snakes and peacocks in roundels surrounded by spirals.

Board of Trinity College Dublin

Book of Kells fol. 29r
Board of Trinity College Dublin

Book of Kells fol. 29r

Book of Kells detail of fol 29r showing interlaced snakes and peacocks in roundels surrounded by spirals.

Board of Trinity College Dublin

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19th century stone carving of a pelican

St Mary’s Limerick. 19th century stone carving of a pelican. It was believed that the pelican pierced her own breast to feed her chicks on blood. It thus became a symbol of Christ’s sacrifice.

Courtesy of Limerick Museum

19th century stone carving of a pelican
Courtesy of Limerick Museum

19th century stone carving of a pelican

St Mary’s Limerick. 19th century stone carving of a pelican. It was believed that the pelican pierced her own breast to feed her chicks on blood. It thus became a symbol of Christ’s sacrifice.

Courtesy of Limerick Museum

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The nature poetry of the early medieval period in Ireland is among the most celebrated internationally demonstrating keen observation and love of the natural world. Interestingly, the depiction of nature in words is not mirrored in the visual arts, and where the natural world is depicted, it is generally shown in abstracted or symbolic form. Plants and animals included in the decoration of artworks such as the Book of Kells or high crosses often have symbolic connotations, for example the popularity of grape vines relates to the symbolism of the Eucharist.

Stone carving of a mermaid, Clonfert Cathedral

The mermaid, often shown holding a comb and a mirror is found in a number of churches, particularly in the Western part of the country

Copyright Shae Clancy, 2005

Stone carving of a mermaid, Clonfert Cathedral
Copyright Shae Clancy, 2005

Stone carving of a mermaid, Clonfert Cathedral

The mermaid, often shown holding a comb and a mirror is found in a number of churches, particularly in the Western part of the country

Copyright Shae Clancy, 2005

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 Art depicting animals reflects the influence of books such as bestiaries (encyclopaedias of animals, both real and mythological, which gave them moral characteristics), rather than the Irish natural world. Thus mermaids were used as a symbol of vanity, while pelicans were understood to symbolise piety.

Opium poppy pods - Corcomroe Abbey, Co. Clare

Corcomroe Abbey, Co. Clare. Opium poppy pods. The opium poppy was not indigenous to Ireland, but was known to have been cultivated in monastic gardens due to its medicinal properties.

Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland

Opium poppy pods - Corcomroe Abbey, Co. Clare
Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland

Opium poppy pods - Corcomroe Abbey, Co. Clare

Corcomroe Abbey, Co. Clare. Opium poppy pods. The opium poppy was not indigenous to Ireland, but was known to have been cultivated in monastic gardens due to its medicinal properties.

Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland

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At Corcomroe abbey (Co. Clare), there is a rare example of the depiction of the natural world in Irish medieval art. Here early thirteenth-century carvings in the hard Burren limestone depict opium poppies, lily-of-the valley and foxgloves, plants that were probably cultivated in the monastic garden.

The depiction of landscape first became significant in the context of cartography, when maps incorporated elements of the landscape in a semi naturalistic way. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, it became increasingly popular among the aristocracy who commissioned ‘portraits’ of their houses and estates, generally shown as well-ordered and prosperous. At the end of the eighteenth century, Edmund Burke’s celebrated treatise (1757) on the beautiful and the sublime in nature influenced the move towards more dramatic landscapes, incorporating spectacular natural features, like high mountains, panoramic views, or steep waterfalls, sometimes demonstrating the relative inferiority of man against such natural or celestial power. It influenced Romantic painting which often showed humanity in a battle for survival.

 

Banks of the Seine (1860) by Nathaniel Hone (1831-1917)

Banks of the Seine (c.1882) by Nathaniel Hone the Younger (1831-1917) Courtesy of the National Gallery of Ireland

Photo (c) National Gallery of Ireland

Banks of the Seine (1860) by Nathaniel Hone (1831-1917)
Photo (c) National Gallery of Ireland

Banks of the Seine (1860) by Nathaniel Hone (1831-1917)

Banks of the Seine (c.1882) by Nathaniel Hone the Younger (1831-1917) Courtesy of the National Gallery of Ireland

Photo (c) National Gallery of Ireland

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Farm at Lezaven (1894) by Roderic O’Conor (1860-1940)

Roderic O’Conor (1860-1940), Farm at Lezaven (1894). This work demonstrates O’Conor’s experimental use of colour and form. Courtesy of the National Gallery of Ireland

Photo (c) National Gallery of Ireland

Farm at Lezaven (1894) by Roderic O’Conor (1860-1940)
Photo (c) National Gallery of Ireland

Farm at Lezaven (1894) by Roderic O’Conor (1860-1940)

Roderic O’Conor (1860-1940), Farm at Lezaven (1894). This work demonstrates O’Conor’s experimental use of colour and form. Courtesy of the National Gallery of Ireland

Photo (c) National Gallery of Ireland

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By the middle of the nineteenth century, the decline of the aristocracy and rise of the middle classes was reflected in changing tastes in landscape imagery. As Irish artists increasingly travelled to Europe, particularly France, they were drawn to new ideas regarding naturalism and realism as explored, for example, at artists’ colonies in various rural locations, like the Forest of Fontainebleau.

Old Woman Burning Leaves (c.1887) by Frank O’Meara (1853-1808)

Old Woman Burning Leaves (c.1887) by Frank O’Meara (1853-1808) shows the influence of French painter Jules Bastien-Lepage in the type of colour and the atmosphere. The old woman’s age is reflected in the late time of day, and the season.

Courtesy of Dublin City Gallery, the Hugh Lane

Old Woman Burning Leaves (c.1887) by Frank O’Meara (1853-1808)
Courtesy of Dublin City Gallery, the Hugh Lane

Old Woman Burning Leaves (c.1887) by Frank O’Meara (1853-1808)

Old Woman Burning Leaves (c.1887) by Frank O’Meara (1853-1808) shows the influence of French painter Jules Bastien-Lepage in the type of colour and the atmosphere. The old woman’s age is reflected in the late time of day, and the season.

Courtesy of Dublin City Gallery, the Hugh Lane

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In a Dublin Park (1898) by Walter Osborne (1853-1903)

In a Dublin Park (1898) by Walter Osborne (1853-1903) shows the kind of scene made popular by Impressionists like Renoir, of people relaxing in dappled shade. However, the naturalistic colour and sense of pathos suggests French realism. Courtesy of the National Gallery of Ireland

Photo (c) National Gallery of Ireland

In a Dublin Park (1898) by Walter Osborne (1853-1903)
Photo (c) National Gallery of Ireland

In a Dublin Park (1898) by Walter Osborne (1853-1903)

In a Dublin Park (1898) by Walter Osborne (1853-1903) shows the kind of scene made popular by Impressionists like Renoir, of people relaxing in dappled shade. However, the naturalistic colour and sense of pathos suggests French realism. Courtesy of the National Gallery of Ireland

Photo (c) National Gallery of Ireland

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Later, aspects of the various new methods of Impressionism and post-Impressionism were taken up by Irish artists. Scenes of everyday life, and experiments with brushwork and colour were explored. However, the interest in city life that featured prominently in the work of British, French and other Continental painters was of more limited interest to Irish artists.

Nationalistic interests, fuelled by literature, particularly the work of W.B. Yeats and of J.M. Synge, focused the attention of artists towards the West of Ireland, particularly its association with authentic Irishness.   This region was seen on the one hand, as the least affected by external influences, and on the other as demonstrating Irish culture as the direct opposite of Britain’s supposedly urban and sophisticated character.

Lakeside Cottage (c.1929) by Paul Henry (1876-1957)

Lakeside Cottage (c.1929) by Paul Henry (1876-1957)

Courtesy of Dublin City Gallery, the Hugh Lane

Lakeside Cottage (c.1929) by Paul Henry (1876-1957)
Courtesy of Dublin City Gallery, the Hugh Lane

Lakeside Cottage (c.1929) by Paul Henry (1876-1957)

Lakeside Cottage (c.1929) by Paul Henry (1876-1957)

Courtesy of Dublin City Gallery, the Hugh Lane

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A Morning in a City (1937) by Jack Yeats (1871-1957)

A Morning in a City (1937) by Jack Yeats (1871-1957). Courtesy of the National Gallery of Ireland

© Estate of Jack B Yeats. All rights reserved, DACS 2009

A Morning in a City (1937) by Jack Yeats (1871-1957)
© Estate of Jack B Yeats. All rights reserved, DACS 2009

A Morning in a City (1937) by Jack Yeats (1871-1957)

A Morning in a City (1937) by Jack Yeats (1871-1957). Courtesy of the National Gallery of Ireland

© Estate of Jack B Yeats. All rights reserved, DACS 2009

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Paul Henry’s images of rolling boglands, or of cottages nestling at the base of a mountain, presented a simple, unifying and comforting image of Ireland at a time of economic and political upheaval.

Jack B. Yeats was one of the few artists to address the city in the early twentieth century. He was less interested in a naturalistic representation than capturing the mood of bustle, and of human interaction or isolation.

Later in the century, artists like Tony O’Malley, Patrick Collins and others explored ideas of place, heritage and nature, in an increasingly abstracted style that drew on memory and imagination rather than literal description. From the 1970s, the preoccupation with the rural and romanticised was challenged by those who recognised an increasingly urban society. The city has been expressed in various ways including as a severe and alienating, or as a dynamic place of opportunity and culture.

 

Strategy Isolate (1989) by Willie Doherty (b.1959)

Black and white photographs with text mounted on masonite; diptych. Strategy Isolate (1989) by Willie Doherty (b.1959) shows a footbridge leading to neglected social housing. Doherty explores in photographic images various aspects of the problems occurring in Northern Ireland, in recent decades.

Courtesy of the Kerlin Gallery, Dublin

Strategy Isolate (1989) by Willie Doherty (b.1959)
Courtesy of the Kerlin Gallery, Dublin

Strategy Isolate (1989) by Willie Doherty (b.1959)

Black and white photographs with text mounted on masonite; diptych. Strategy Isolate (1989) by Willie Doherty (b.1959) shows a footbridge leading to neglected social housing. Doherty explores in photographic images various aspects of the problems occurring in Northern Ireland, in recent decades.

Courtesy of the Kerlin Gallery, Dublin

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Lough Arrow Algae III (1995) by Barry Cooke (b.1931)

Lough Arrow Algae (1995) by Barry Cooke (b.1931) represents the destructive, if colourful, infestation of a local lake. Oil on canvas 97 x 102 cm Collection Irish Museum of Modern Art, Military Road, Kilmainham, Dublin 8, Ireland http://www.imma.ie/en/index.htm Donation, Maire and Maurice Foley, 2000

Collection Irish Museum of Modern Art

Lough Arrow Algae III (1995) by Barry Cooke (b.1931)
Collection Irish Museum of Modern Art

Lough Arrow Algae III (1995) by Barry Cooke (b.1931)

Lough Arrow Algae (1995) by Barry Cooke (b.1931) represents the destructive, if colourful, infestation of a local lake. Oil on canvas 97 x 102 cm Collection Irish Museum of Modern Art, Military Road, Kilmainham, Dublin 8, Ireland http://www.imma.ie/en/index.htm Donation, Maire and Maurice Foley, 2000

Collection Irish Museum of Modern Art

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Contemporary representations of the landscape are mainly concerned with social and political issues, such as the divisions in Northern Ireland , social deprivation and isolation generally, and issues relating to ecology, migration and globalisation. Even romanticised subjects tend to reflect an underlying comment on the challenges facing contemporary society.